Acting Commissioner Terence O'Leary

Prior to being named Acting Commissioner, Terry served as Executive Deputy Commissioner of DHSES for nearly a decade. From 2014 to 2016, Terry served as the Deputy Secretary for Public Safety for the New York State Executive Chamber where he was responsible for overseeing the policy and operations of the State’s public safety agencies, including DHSES, the New York State Police, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, and the Division of Criminal Justice Services.

From 2011 to 2014, Terry served as the Director of Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement within the New York State Department of Health, where he was responsible for implementing and managing the State’s Prescription Monitoring Program Registry and overseeing the shift of the State’s Official Prescription Program to require all prescriptions be issued electronically, making New York the first in the nation to do so.

Terry previously served as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office between 2001 and 2011, where he was assigned to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. In 2006, Terry was assigned to the Special Investigation Bureau as the Senior Investigative Counsel where he handled long term investigations of major narcotics trafficking and money laundering organizations.

Terry earned a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola University of Maryland, majoring in history, and his Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University’s School of Law.